| Word |
Description |
| Jati |
birth and the caste system |
| Jivatman |
the personality self |
| Jnana Marga |
the path of knowledge |
| Jnana Yoga |
Yoga of Knowledge |
| Jnana |
intuitive knowledge |
| Jutha |
the 'left-overs' of food offered to a deity, the deity having extracted the essence of the food |
| Jyotish |
Vedic Astrology |
| Kailash |
the world mountain |
| Kalash |
brass pot containing water, representative of a goddess |
| Kali Yuga |
dark or iron age |
| Kali |
the dark form of the Goddess, characterized by ferocious appearance |
| Kalki |
tenth avatar of Vishnu |
| Kama |
pursuit of desire and pleasure, particularly sexual pleasure |
| Kapha |
biological water humor |
| Kapila |
great Hindu sage, founder of the Sankhya system of philosophy |
| Karakas |
planetary significators |
| Karma Marga |
the path of egoless action |
| Karma Yoga |
Yoga of Work or Service |
| Karma Yogi |
person who is selflessly devoted to work |
| Karma |
literally 'action' but also the law of cause and effect; action and reaction |
| Kashmiri Shaivism |
Shaivite philosophy of medieval Kashmir |
| Katcha |
poor quality, impure food |
| Ketu |
south node of the Moon, dragon's tail |
| Kirtan |
hymn in praise of a deity |
| Krishna |
eighth avatar of Vishnu |
| Krishna-Janamastami |
Hindu festival celebrating the birth of Lord Krishna |
| Kriya Yoga |
Yoga of technique |
| Kshatriya |
people of political values, belonging to the second of the four Hindu classes of society, traditionally a warrior, ruler or administrator |
| Kundalini |
serpent power, power of subtle body |
| Lakshman |
the brother of Lord Ram in the epic Ramayana |
| Lakshmi |
Goddess of prosperity, fortune and beauty; |
| Lalita |
Goddess of bliss |
| Laya Yoga |
Yoga of absorption of sound-current (nada) |
| Linga |
phallic symbol associated with the God Shiva |
| Lit |
person outside the class system of Hinduism who was formerly termed as Untouchable |
| Loka |
place; realm, as the deva loka, the realm of the gods |
| Mahabharata |
the epic of Krishna, Pandavas & Kauravas |
| Mahadeva |
'Great God', one of the names of the deity Shiva |
| Mahadevi |
'Great Goddess', the Mother Goddess of Hinduism |
| Mahashivratri |
Hindu festival devoted to Lord Shiva |
| Mahavakyas |
great sayings of Vedantic knowledge |
| Mahayana |
great vehicle, northern school of Buddhism |
| Manas |
mind or emotion |
| Mandal |
Hindu temple which can also be used for socio-cultural purposes |
| Mandap/mandva |
the canopy under which a wedding ceremony takes place |
| Mandir |
a Hindu temple |
| Mantra |
spiritual or sacred syllables or sounds which contain in their essence divine cosmic power |
| Manu |
Vedic original man, founder of human culture |
| Marmas |
sensitive body zones in Ayurvedic treatment |
| Mata |
mother, a compound often used in the names of female goddesses |
| Maya |
illusion, particularly the illusion of the transient, impermanent, phenomenal world |
| Mayavada |
doctrine that the world is unreal |
| Mehndi |
long-lasting pattern made with henna dye on the hands of a woman at her wedding and sometimes at festive occasions |
| Meru |
the poles |
| Mimamsa |
ritualistic form of Vedic philosophy |
| Moksha |
pursuit of liberation from the cycle of reincarnation, loss of the egoistic self, and union with Brahman |
| Monism |
the theory that everything in the cosmos is a unity and is equated with the divine |
| Monotheism |
belief in one personal god or goddess |
| Murti |
the image and representation of a deity in a temple, shrine or in the home |
| Nada |
sound current of the subtle body |
| Nadis |
nerves of the subtle body |
| Namaskar |
'I bow to you', the greeting which acknowledges the atman in another person |
| Namaste |
'I bow to you', the greeting which acknowledges the atman in another person |
| Nataraj |
Shiva as lord of the cosmic dance |
| Navaratri |
a nine-day Hindu festival devoted to the goddess Durga |
| Neti Neti |
literally 'not this, not this', the expression used to denote that Brahman is beyond all dualities and human thought |
| Nirakara |
'without form', referring to Brahman as Unmanifest |
| Nirguna |
'without gunas', without qualities, referring to Brahman as Unmanifest |
| Nirvana |
liberation, the state of peace |
| Nitya |
'obligatory', referring to aspects of religious practice. |
| Niyamas |
yogic observances |
| Nyaya & Vaisheshika |
Hindu philosophies |
| Panda |
a temple priest at a pilgrimage site |
| Panentheism |
the belief that the divine is in all things and unifies all things but is ultimately greater than all things |
| Pantheism |
the belief that the divine is in all things and is equated with the totality of all |
| Parashurama |
sixth avatar of Vishnu |
| Parvati |
goddess, the consort of God Shiva |
| Patanjali |
main teacher of classical Yoga system |
| Pinda |
four balls of rice prepared on the twelfth day after someone has died to symbolize the union of the deceased with his or her forebears |
| Pitta |
biological fire humor |
| Polytheism |
belief in many personal gods and /or goddesses |
| Prakriti |
great Nature, matter |
| Prana Yoga |
Yoga of the life-force |
| Prana |
breath or life-force |
| Pranayama |
yogic control of the breath |
| Prasad |
the grace of the deity given to the worshipper in the form of food after worship: see also jutha |
| Pratyahara |
yogic control of mind and senses |
| Puja |
Hindu honour, respect or worship of a deity, flower offerings |
| Pujari |
temple or shrine priest who performs puja |
| Pukka |
good quality food which is considered ritually pure |
| Puranas |
Hindu mythological texts |
| Purohit |
a family priest or guru |
| Purusha |
literally 'person': the original, primeval being the sacrifice of which was believed to create from its body the phenomenal world, in particular the four classes. It is the pure consciousness, or the spirit which is also synonymous of Brahman and therefore of atman |
